A couple of hours after the police officer left, Doctor Eldan returned to Elric's room. Ember had spent the last few hours chatting with him, and the two had finally started learning more about each other.
With the lights off, it didn't cause Elric too much of a headache to be awake.
Midway through one of Ember's stories about singing back in her hometown, the doctor returned. His eyes looked just as tired as the aide's had been before.
"I'll have the aide at the front desk pass a sheet with some treatment info on it to you on your way out. Try to avoid strenuous exercise, bright lights, and reading or looking at screens for too long. Don't drive until you've recovered, either."
None of Elric's injuries required him to stay in the hospital, so the doctor was ready to discharge him right away. It didn't bother Elric.
The hospital bed was much less comfortable than his one at home, and he could see that Ember was growing tired of being cooped up in the tiny room, despite her not voicing any complaints about staying with him.
With Ember's help, Elric made his way out to the exit of the hospital. Wincing from the bright noon sun, a problem came to mind.
"Hey Ember, did The Boys tell you where they were going to park our car?"
Elric quickly opened up his messenger to check for any messages but saw that it was blank.
"They didn't leave the keys inside the hospital for us either… How are we supposed to get home? We could call for a cab, but then Dad's car would be left somewhere in the parking lot."
The hospital was quite a large one, and with a big hospital came a huge parking lot.
Heaving a sigh and leaning against Ember to try and reduce the pain in his bruised legs, Elric started forward.
"Well, I guess all we can do is start looking. I'll message the chat to see if anyone can tell us, too."
Before they could get more than a few steps into the parking lot, Elric's phone dinged, and a message with the exact location of his car arrived.
"Ah, sweet. Ember, the keys will be tucked on top of the sun visor."
Elric paused for a second before continuing to speak.
"Can you drive?"
"It should be fine. I haven't driven in a city before, but I'll make sure to be careful! You can just sit back and try to get some rest."
It only took them a couple more minutes to get to the car, and Elric booted up his phone again after climbing into the passenger seat. The seat smelt very faintly of lilac.
'I know I'm not supposed to be using a phone when I've got a concussion, but it isn't good to be idle.'
Opening up a search engine, Elric started his research.
'Search: Angeline, local singer.'
A few results popped up, but based on the age of the drunks and their claims that the singer was dating one of them, he quickly narrowed it down to one.
'Hm, NexRu agency. They work regularly with WStar, so it's not that unusual for this Angeline girl to have some favorability with them.'
While he was scrolling through pages of info, Elric opened his mouth to question Ember.
"What was it that you did to make these guys hate you so much? I haven't heard of many other people receiving this same treatment in the past."
Keeping her eyes focused on the road before her, Ember shook her head.
"I'm not really sure. I managed to book a singing slot at a popular bar about a week ago, and Nulstaya was on right before me. When her time was up, she didn't leave the stage and just kept talking with fans instead."
"Sounds like a WStar thing to do. Most of their performers think the world revolves around them."
"Her managers didn't do anything when I asked them to have her leave, so I went to the bar staff for help. I… I guess that was my mistake. The worker I talked to seemed pissed that I would suggest that."
Ember's voice cracked a tiny bit.
"They called me out to the stage like they were going to have me sing, but once I was up there, they claimed I wanted to kick Nulstaya off the stage early to steal her spot. I- I ended up leaving without getting to sing."
Elric could only sigh. He'd heard multiple similar stories in the past, and it was almost always the big agencies that won.
With the prestige and superior talents they carried, it was simple for them to block a smaller agency out of jobs.
If there was a performer they particularly despised, they could block their agency's activities until the singer was forced out of the company.
"It's ok, Ember. Even if it's just me, I'll keep supporting you. We're not giving up until that Nulstaya girl has to come to you begging for screen time."
When he glanced over, Elric could see dampness in the corners of Ember's eyes. He tapped on his screen a few more times.
'Search: Nulstaya, stage thief.'
A few hand-filmed videos showed up as results, looking like they'd been filmed from within a crowd.
'I'll watch these after we're back… it's probably best not to in front of Ember.'
"Hey Ember, where have you been staying?"
"A hotel a little way outside of the college campus, I wanted to come around and visit before the semester starts. I figured it would also be the perfect time to start my singing career."
"Hm? You're going to SSSU as well?"
Ember's eyes lit up when she heard Elric's words.
"Wait, we're going to be classmates! I was afraid I wouldn't know anyone there, but now I'll have nothing to worry about!"
It was two and a half weeks until the beginning of the fall semester. Many students would make a trip over to move their stuff into the dorms or to get a feel for the campus, and some would even move in already.
Ember rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment.
"I also planned on finding an apartment to rent while I was here, but I've totally forgotten. Can you help me with that, too?"
"Two weeks out… Why did you wait so long? It'll be just about impossible to find one at this time, unless you want to drive from a long way away. Everywhere near the college will be rented out already, unless the price has been set ridiculously high."